


Little Wonders

by Inkribbon796



Series: Masks and Maladies [86]
Category: Markiplier fandom - Fandom, Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Death Threats, M/M, Magic, Stabbing, Threats of Cannibalism, song usage, superhero au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:14:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25626517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inkribbon796/pseuds/Inkribbon796
Summary: Dark goes house cleaning to flush out a dangerous mole in his network.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil/Creativity | Roman/Logic | Logan/Morality | Patton, Dr. Iplier/The Host
Series: Masks and Maladies [86]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1538131
Comments: 8
Kudos: 35





	1. Let Your Clarity Define You in the End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place almost directly after last week’s story: Crackdown.

Dark was outside his office, talking with Google when Logan walked out of his office. There were a couple papers in his hands that the Entity was reading through.

“Is this everything?” Dark asked Google as Logan came to stop a non-confrontational distance away. Logan had only been working for Dark for a little over eight months now, but he’d learned enough about him to tell Dark was already in a bad mood. All Logan could do was stand and wait to either be abruptly dismissed from the meeting he was supposed to go to, or for Dark to usher him inside.

“Yes, he wasn’t doing too much before he disappears from Florida state records,” Google answered calmly, his eyes tracking to Logan before smiling and looking back at Dark. “You’re certain I can’t take care of him myself?”

“Bim is in a hunting mood,” Dark refused. “If you’re lucky, you can keep the brain.”

“Unfortunate, but I’ll have to accept it,” Google allowed and then walked away.

“Ahh, Sanders,” Dark gave a small smile as his attention turned to Logan. “I was a bit worried that you had left early.”

“I leave on average at 2200 hours,” Logan commented walking into the office when Dark silently ushered him inside. He slowly closed the door behind him.

“Sit down, I won’t keep you long,” Dark promised, hands knit behind his back as he strode to sit behind his own desk. “I’ve been looking over your notes concerning my Lost One’s files. Some very useful ideas, wish I could still use them.”

“Did something happen?” Logan was braced for the bad news and an even later night.

“Yes, three of my Lost Ones were arrested, and Yancy is on parole,” Dark admitted calmly. “The whole mess was taken care of an hour ago.”

“I didn’t even know you had left,” Logan admitted. “I assume they are none the worse for wear.”

“Apart from Bim’s overdramatics, they’re all fine, the heroes were too busy thinking they were being coerced to start roughing them up,” Dark commented. “I honestly had nothing to worry about.”

“That’s good news,” Logan agreed.

“It is,” Dark replied in a thoughtful, rueful tone. “But the heroes know a bit too much about Yancy, which means we’ve got a bit of a fly on the wall in my network because they know things Yancy never told them.”

Before Logan could fully decide what to say or give options on how to help smooth over the problem, his chair was abruptly spun around which surprised Logan because he hadn’t heard anyone coming up behind him and hadn’t thought the chair was designed to spin.

Even through the distractions, Logan knew he was probably on a short list of suspicious individuals. The person he came face to face with was familiar but not in a way Logan could place.

“Hey Lo,” Orange smiled as he looked at Logan. “Having fun playing dress-up? That’s usually Princey’s thing.”

The Side frowned when he saw the guarded but uncertain look on Logan’s face. “Huh?”

Logan was braced for something, trying to remember where he’d seen this person before.

Dark came up behind them, “Something wrong?”

“He doesn’t remember me,” Orange answered, he took Logan by the lapels of his suit, which Logan immediately and indignantly tried to pull away from him. “Come on, Lo, you know me? Remember?”

“Oh,” Dark recognized, and put his aura on the top of Logan’s head, his aura lightly searching for something until he found it. The Entity pulled off another aura, almost like a mesh of spell work that kept Logan complacent and unaware of what he was doing, and Dark could practically feel the Host’s magic all over it.

As Dark’s aura subsumed the other aura Logan had a disoriented look to him before his laser focus landed on Orange and he startled in his grip. “Unhand me!”

“Nah, you’re already in deep shit, where would you swim to?” Orange grinned, Logan pressed back into the chair as Orange leaned over him, hands on the chair arms.

“Enough,” Dark cut in, using his aura to rotate back to look at Logan. “So, Mr. Sanders, is there any part of your resume that you weren’t lying on?”

“My distain for disorder and puns,” Logan answered.

Dark moved his hand and Logan felt something like a hand on the front of his throat, phantom claws on the soft flesh of his throat. “You of all people should know how I feel about moles, _Thomas_.”

“What?” Logan was barely able to still talk without claws sinking into his throat. “My name is Logan.”

The pressure in his throat abated for a brief second, but Logan wasn’t allowed to feel much of anything when Dark scored his aura claws down. Logan cried out, his cheek burning with sharp pain, and it felt wet. The Logical Side presumed it was with his own blood. The panicking part of his brain wanted to call out for Patton or Roman, he was acutely aware he wasn’t wearing his communicator.

“ _AAHHHHHH_!” Logan screamed, and Dark physically grabbed Logan by the throat, pinning him to the chair, a bunch of papers in his hands.

“Thomas F. Sanders, date of birth: April 24, 1989. Gainesville, Florida.” Dark began casually reading off the paper and Logan tried to fight off the wave of palpable fear. Dark had gone looking for Logan and found Thomas instead.

Logan wasn’t sure what was worse. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to lie and make Dark believe he really was Thomas . . . and after this was all said and done, hope Dark would toss the papers away and not look deeper into them.

But Dark was always good at spotting lies.

“I am not Thomas,” Logan decided. “He doesn’t exist, Orange, you know my name is not Thomas, do not participate in this pointless charade.”

“Hmm,” Orange hummed, grabbing Logan by the hair and forcing him to look up, “nope, you’re Thomas alright, that dopey optimism, that personality that people _can’t help but love_!”

“Falsehood!” Logan shouted at Orange. “I am not Thomas.”

Orange slapped Logan on the cheek that was still bleeding. Dark was sitting behind his desk again, the quick change disorienting Logan a bit.

Dark was still looking at the papers, “You never told me you were an actor. A couple Community Playhouse credits in Gainesville, _Hot Mikado_ , ooh, _Singing in the Rain_. I hate that one.”

“What’s wrong with it?” Orange paused in his sadism to question Dark, his face twisting up in the only Thomas-like display that Logan had ever seen from the other Side.

“I hate actors,” Dark scoffed, balling up an entire page and tossing it into the trash bin. “Wil adores the movie, but _Singing is the Rain_ is about actors, which means I hate it all the more.”

“Harsh,” Orange scoffed. “Bad date?”

Dark glared at Orange, “I’m not going to humor that statement.”

“You know I am not Thomas,” Logan reminded Orange, his anger consuming his fear. “Why are you helping with what I assume will be my death. This will affect you as well.”

“Not as much as you think,” Orange smiled.

“Why are you insisting I’m Thomas?” Logan demanded. “Insisting such is offensive and incognizant.”

“Well unlike the others who want to fight over that name, Princey’s got all those social skills, and Pop’s is an emotional basket case. But _you_ ,” Orange tapped Logan on the nose, “have all those memories like going to school, Thomas’s folks, stuff like that. So if anything happens to those pesky little things, Thomas will die. Even if all the others fuse and try, they’ll never have those memories. Even if Princey rehearses until he believes his own performance they can’t bring them back. So if you die, it’s a win-win.”

Logan had been listening to Orange gloat and jeer and he hated that he had the gall to wear Thomas’s face while he said it. So he did something impulsive in his pain and anger, he spat in Orange’s face, moving to punch him but Orange was faster, slamming his fist into Logan’s face.

Over and over again.

The other Side was trying to get at the bloody scratches already present. In the scuffle Logan’s glasses were knocked free and Orange stomped on them, almost like a pained connection, Logan felt it when he heard the frame crack.

“You know, I’m sick and tired of Thomas this and Thomas that. News flash, Teach, he would have hated and been afraid of me. Why should I want to go back to that, to being so thoroughly buried I may as well have not existed to him? The best thing that ever happened to me was when he was broken apart and I was taken away from you.”

“Alright, that’s enough,” Dark cut in, his aura wrapped around one of Orange’s arms. What Logan couldn’t see because of his destroyed glasses, was the knife he’d pulled. “I need him alive for a bit longer and you’ve said your peace.”

“I thought you were going to off him,” Orange scoffed.

“Not quite yet,” Dark flicked his wrists and a Void portal ripped open, forcing Orange from the room.

“So, Logan,” a dark shape moved in front of Logan’s vision again as Dark sat down in front of him. He heard a tearing of paper.

“Regardless of who you were,” Dark clipped what remained of Logan’s glasses to the front of his shirt. “It’s time for you to choose, Sanders. The heroes, or me.”

“I think my decision would have been obvious,” Logan told him. “You and your network are deplorable and I have greatly enjoyed my work in helping to dismantle it.”

Dark clicked his tongue, “Regrettable.”

Logan felt Dark aura tighten around him and the chair like a snake and Logan just braced to get his neck snapped. He hoped it would be quick and he wouldn’t feel it.

To Logan’s mounting tension he was pulled through a Void portal and Dark was bringing him down what seemed to be a dark corridor. Logan had the ability to gaze around and wished that he could see where he was. It looked interesting.

“Trying to figure out where you are,” Dark mused proudly.

“My habit is to obtain information on new places or experiences,” Logan explained.

“Well,” Dark sounded smug, “no need to bother with that tonight.”

At that moment Dark caught movement down one of the tunnels and he threw his aura to scare the creature or person off. Logan tensed when he felt Dark’s aura curl up around him before the Entity struck.

“I hate the rats around here, I swear the magic from that old hag makes them grow bigger by the day,” Dark scoffed in disgust.

“You are going to have me eaten?” Logan asked tensely, fear bubbling back up onto his mind.

“Not by the rats,” Dark corrected. Dark opened a steel door, his aura moving into the cracks to open it from the inside, the rusted gears grinding loudly.

“Finally!” Bim shouted when the door opened, he was polishing his already immaculate scalpels and knives. Dark noted the darker eyes, sharper teeth, and almost sunken eyes. “I’m starving here, Old Man.”

“Yes, I merely had to pick him up for you,” Dark set Logan’s chair down, his hands on his shoulders. “He meets your outrageous standards, I hope.”

Bim looked at Logan and smiled and ravenous excitement, “Oh, what did he do?”

“Does he work or should I slit his throat now and be done with it?” Dark demanded harshly, the door being locked and sealed behind them.

“Yeah, yeah, just let me get the table open,” Bim said, and Logan heard the clicking of metal, his heart was racing.

“Well Sanders, I look forward to seeing which hero is missing in the coming weeks,” Dark smiled as he whispered quietly into Logan’s ears, patting him once on his shoulder.

Logan felt Dark’s aura grab him and began fighting it, trying to reach for anything but Dark dropped him onto a metal table. His wrists locked into a tight metal cuff at the top and his ankles locked into a similar cuff at the bottom. He had almost no room to struggle.

“Do not leave evidence,” Dark ordered his progeny. “The heroes will come looking for this one.”

“Shit, it’s like this is my first rodeo,” Bim scoffed.

“I mean it, be responsible,” Dark ordered and Logan heard the Void being ripped open, leaving him alone with Bim.


	2. Twists and Turns of Fate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan felt something he’d never felt before: blind, brain numbing fear. His whole body had tense up like a wound-up clock. He could speak, he couldn’t scream. Regrettably he couldn’t even think.

Logan felt something he’d never felt before: blind, brain numbing fear. His whole body had tense up like a wound-up clock. He couldn’t speak, he couldn’t scream. Regrettably he couldn’t even think.

_Chance of Death: 100%_

The logical Side was trying to think of anything but his brain was only coming up with reasons he was going to die instead of looking for a useful solution. He could barely even wiggle to attempt to free himself. The door sounded heavy. No one knew where he was. The Host had warned him before this even started that he would be unable to help Logan.

“Don’t leave evidence,” Bim mocked Dark’s tone of voice. “Fucking asshole, who does he think I am? I don’t leave fucking evidence.”

A dull thud from Bim’s elbow hitting the table startled Logan. “So, what’d you do?”

Logan’s throat seized up with fear, rendering him literally speechless.

“Bet it was pretty bad for the Old Man to deal with you,” Bim leaned over the table and gave his newest victim a wide toothy smile. “You’re working with the heroes aren’t you?”

“Confessions given during coercion are unreliable and untrustworthy,” Logan refused, once he could calm himself enough to speak. He desperately wanted Patton or Roman, he felt alone and terrified.

The young villain scoffed, and Logan startled when he felt something sharp cut into his previously unmarred cheek, giving out a choked gasp. “I’ve heard people say and promise a lot of things you know? I can see why the Old Man drags out his kills, but you know, I don’t think I can do that tonight. I’m just so fucking hungry!”

With no warning to Logan, Bim punctuated his statement by stabbing Logan right next to the lung, Bim’s hunger making him sloppy. Logan screamed out, pain piercing his body as he instinctively tried to get away but the cuffs kept him from doing so.

“But,” Bim grabbed Logan by the cheek and forced him to look in his direction, his fingers digging into the cuts and scratches, “I think I can drag this out long enough to be fun.”

A bang came at the door, startling both Bim and Logan. Logan went very still, and Bim angrily hissed and turned to the door.

“I hate being interrupted during dinner,” Bim growled, his voice starting to get farther away.

Logan’s racing heart wasn’t helping.

“Yeah what do you want Old—” Bim hissed before everything went quiet.

There was a muted scream, then Logan was left with footfall running towards him.

“Shit,” someone cursed.

“A little help here!” Someone else called out.

“I’m a bit busy here,” the first voice called out.

Logan felt a bit disoriented, a still functioning part of his pain told him he was most likely going into shock, which would be fatal for his condition. His wrists and ankles, along with all of his body felt considerably lighter. Not helped by his inability to see.

“Let’s go, before Dark shows back up,” the first voice was becoming increasingly familiar.

Finally Logan felt like he was being moved, which snapped his brain almost into hyper awareness as he was moved. At the moment he could be sure if it was a good thing or not, but he couldn’t hear Bim anymore.

After about two minutes they stopped.

“You think he can find us?”

_Virgil?_

“Yes, hand me your watch, I’ll call the heroes.” Logan vaguely recognized Deceit’s voice. “Do not remove that knife yet.”

“I,” Virgil already sounded like he was panicking. “Hurry, he’s dying.”

“Compress the wound,” Janus ordered. “Stay quiet.”

“Shit,” Virgil sobbed. “Shit.”

“How bad is it?” Logan asked.

“It looks like he got you in the lungs,” Virgil answered.

Logan took a shallow breath, “I do not feel like I have a punctured lung.”

“Okay, okay, that’s good,” Virgil said in hysterics.

“Virgil, I need you to remain calm,” Logan ordered.

“How can I remain calm when you were stabbed in the chest,” Virgil told him. “You’re not Remus or Ro, you’re gonna die. How are you not freaking out.”

“My survival right now hinges upon me being calm until help arrives,” Logan reminded sharply. “Now that I am away from Bim I can not afford to panic. I need you to calm down.”

“If I hadn’t dragged my feet we could have gotten to you before you got stabbed. I saw Dark dragging you along and I froze up,” Virgil sounded like he was sobbing.

“Virgil,” Logan tried to cut in, trying to think of what Patton would do.

_Scream,_ a part of his brain reminded, to which Logan sharply reminded himself was unhelpful.

“You’re going to die and it’s going to be my fault,” Virgil panicked.

“Let it go,” Logan told Virgil, his tone had a slight lilt to it from the song, but Logan couldn’t sing ballades too well and he’d been stabbed so it would have been asking too much from his already taxed system. “Let it roll right off your shoulders.”

Virgil snuffled a little bit as Logan kept going, “Don’t you know? The hardest part is over?”

“Let it in,” Logan pleaded as Virgil silently came back to Logan’s side, pressure finally being out onto his stab wound. To carefully stop the bleeding while not jostling the scalpel. “Let your clarity define you.”

“In the end,” Logan grimaced in pain, “we will only just remember how it feels.”

“Our lives are made,” Logan’s hand scooted over to touch Virgil’s fingers, the ones still on his chest, regretful of the fact he couldn’t see him. “In these small hours, these little wonders, these twists and turns of fate.”

Virgil managed a smile as Logan sang, touching his free hand to Logan’s face and carding it through his hair.

“Time falls away, but these small hours,” Logan grimaced back. “These small hours still remain.”

Despite the pain he tried to reach up to touch Virgil’s face, so happy he was with him. But the logical Side was stopped immediately by the shooting pain through his body. He screamed out.

Desperate, Virgil carefully moved Logan into his lap, urging him to stop.

“Let it slide,” Virgil picked up, trying to keep the bubble of calm going, if only for his own sake to keep him from screaming and panicking. He knew he was a bit pitchy and probably singing a bit deeper than it was normally sung. “Let your troubles fa~all behind you, let it shine.”

Logan, however, didn't seem to mind, just watching Virgil sing, “Til you feel it all around you.”

“And I don’t mind,” Virgil told Logan. “If it’s me you ne~ed to turn to, we’ll get by.”

“It’s the heart,” Virgil began on his own before Logan regain enough strength to continue along with him. “That really matters in the end.”

Virgil was too worried about Logan, to realize that the logical Side’s eyes had turned to a deep, dark shade of blue. Logan’s glasses were destroyed so he couldn’t make out the subtle glow of Virgil’s deep, dark purple eyes in the darkness.

“Our lives are made,” Logan sang with Virgil, feeling his body get charged a bit with some kind of energy. “In these small hours.”

“These little wonders,” their singing had become a little quieter, to preserve as much of Logan’s strength as they could. “These twists and turns of fate.”

“Time falls away,” Virgil carded his free hand through Logan’s hair again. “But these small hours, these small hours, still remain.”

Janus was creeping back to their hiding spot, hearing their voices before he could see them and was about to chew them both out. He knew leaving Virgil alone with Logan hadn’t been the best idea, but it was their only option, but it wouldn’t do them any good if Janus went to the trouble of disgusting and redirecting Logan’s and their trails if someone heard them singing in the tunnels.

Then he stopped when he saw the glow of purple eyes.

“All of my regret,” Virgil kept softly singing with Logan, feeling his body charging with energy, knowing what it meant, but wanting to hold Logan even closer. “Will wash away somehow.”

“But I cannot forget,” Logan agreed as Virgil realized that Janus was there and silently begged for help. “The way I feel right now.”

Janus carefully moved over, trying to disrupt the torn magic trying to knit itself back together. He carefully but quickly pulled the scalpel, using the magic he could conjure up to make it relatively painless. They’d both tried fusing with Remus when he’d been stabbed, and the result was the Dragon Witch having a knife sticking out of him, and a healed wound around the blade. Logan did cry out but Virgil stroked his face, their eyes still glowing different colors.

Virgil held Logan close, putting as much pressure on the wound as he could.

“In these small hours,” they both tried to sing, but Logan’s much more pained. They let out a soft glow, and the words became a bit stronger as one person sat in their place, “these little wonders.”

Janus backed up with the scalpel, making it disappear up his sleeve as he gave the new fusion its space. The fusions’s arms around his body as if the two halves were still trying to hold onto each other.

“These little wonders,” the fusion sang, “these twist and turns of fate.”

“Yeah, these twists and turns of fate,” the fusion kept going, his grip on himself slightly less desperate and tight,” Time falls away. Yeah, but these small hours, and these small hours.”

The magic in the air began to slowly dissipate, which revealed Janus because they were less likely to be caught. “Still reman, yeah~yeah, oh, they still remain.”

“These little wonders,” the fusion continued. Janus quiet went back to check the mouth of their tunnel, braced to see Dark or one of his cronies. “Oh these these twists and turns of fate.”

“Time falls away,” the fusion slowly opened his eyes, “but these small hours. These little wonders.”

“Still remain,” he trailed off softly, letting go of himself to look at his hands and the now magically closed up stab wound of his chest. Even Logan’s shirt and vest had been magically repaired as if nothing had happened.

But everything had happened.

Virgil’s thoughts were churning as Logan grabbed the reins of their fusion. In place of Logan’s suit coat and Virgil’s cloak was a long dark blue cape, the shading so dark that it was almost black, the inside of the cape was an equally dark purple color. The cloak was a bit shorter than Virgil’s cloak, and lacked a hood.

“Hello,” Janus greeted softly, trying not to startle the new fusion. One he’d never thought he’d get to see with Virgil insistence on never fusing again when he’d joined the Light Sides.

“Jan?” The fusion still sat kneeling, the Logan in him paused at the name. _Janus? Deceit was Janus?_

Janus smiled in the dark tunnel, unsure if this fusion took after Virgil’s night vision. “Yes, do you have a name?”

The fusion thought for a couple seconds, “Brain, my name is Brain.”

Smiling a bit more softly, Janus held out his hands and Brain took them, standing up on shaky legs. “So, Brain, where to now?”

“The base, I have to let the heroes know that Logan is okay,” Brain decided. “Do you know where we are?”

“An abandoned railway station fifty miles out of town,” Janus motioned and Brain began to follow him. “Virgil and I have been looking for a way to reverse his curse, and there was supposed to be some kind of witch in the area. Before we could find her, Virgil spotted Logan and almost got his head taken off by Dark.”

“I should be lucky you two were in the area,” Brain began to whisper, the two of them tiptoeing through the tunnels. He grabbed Janus to pull him closer, looking nervous, “I can’t see far away.”

Janus offered his hand, “Come on, then.”

They walked in silence for a couple seconds, Brain pausing to look at some of the graffiti on the walls a couple times in distraction. Then Janus paused them.

“What do you mean you can’t find them!” Dark boomed, Brain tensing up.

“Boss, we looked everywhere,” one of Dark’s network nervously answered.

Brain could almost smell the fear in the air from Virgil and heard a wet, squelching sound — the sound of the man’s head being ripped from his neck — along with the rip of a hole in the Void.

“Clean everyone out,” Dark ordered. “Once Bim has had his fill, I’ll smoke them out.”

Janus tugged on Brain’s arm and Brain stayed quiet, trying not to draw attention to either of them.

Dark’s voice began to get farther away and the tunnel started getting a bit brighter.

“Hey!” Someone called out behind them.

Brain, with Virgil’s reaction time and forethought, screamed and threw up a fear wave, willingly shaping it to look like Dark. The guy screamed and Janus grabbed Brian, the two running into the woods.

“Heroes, some help would be appreciated,” Janus ordered into Virgil’s communicator as he took off in a random direction with Brain.

Thankfully that was when Jackie came in and, at Janus’s immediate insistence to take Brain _first_ , scooped Brain up and ran back towards the base, leaving him in the garage to go back for Deceit who was probably at Dark’s non-existent mercy.

However now Brain was now left in the garage with Patton and Roman looked different levels of confused. Marvin and Iplier were them, feeding off of their unease. Being left alone with the three heroes left Brain and his two halves just as uneasy.

“Where’s Logan?” Iplier asked.

“He’s a Side,” Patton commented. “But you’re not Orange.”

“No,” Brain took a deep breath, thankful that Logan was part of his make up. “I am Brain, I am a fusion between Logan and Virgil.”

“What?!” Roman shouted.

Patton let out an excited screech, clapping his hands to his face, “ _Ahhhhhhh_! Virgil’s first fusion.”

“Virgil has fused with Dee and the Duke to make the Dragon Witch multiple times,” Brain corrected.

“Hi Lo,” Patton waved at Brain. “Having fun in there with Virge?”

“How do we know it’s really this Brain fellow and not that snake in Side’s clothing?” Roman demanded.

“You tried to swipe Virgil’s _Nightmare Before Christmas_ posters, and then almost got your head caved in with Logan’s clipboard when you stole all the Crofters in the fridge and then lied about it.”

Roman crown, sheathing his sword, frowning and looking at Marvin and Iplier, “Okay unless they told that slimy snake, it’s them.”

“Yah sure?” Marvin asked incredulously.

“Yes, they’re Logan and Virgil fused,” Roman looked unhappy. “I take it you two, for whatever reason, fused in the heart of Dark’s territory. I’d be more upset if that wasn’t so romantic.”

“Well,” Brain became acutely aware that Jackie was back with Janus, and both of them looked none the worse for wear. Jackie walked over and gave Brain the watch. “Oh thank you, Logan was stabbed by Bim and in trying to calm each other down they fused.”

“He _was_ stabbed then?” Iplier shouted. “Are you still bleeding?”

“Fusing and unfusing resets our forms, so as fun as a visit would be, Doc, I’m good, although I do need to yell at your boyfriend,” Brain said.

Iplier rolled his eyes, “Sure, what’s he do this time?”

“Brain is referring to the Host’s actions regarding both Anxiety and Logic,” the Host suddenly appeared behind Iplier, leaning his head on his doctor’s shoulder.

Iplier jumped a bit, “Host, don’t do that?”

The Host looked pleased by the reaction he had cause. He leaned away, stepping from around Iplier.

Janus let out a low snake-like hiss when he realized the Host was there, his serpentine pupil narrowing. “You!”

“Now,” the Host smiled. “The Host regrets to inform the Sides, that he does not have anything to say that would make him look any better.”

“You obviously hate us,” Brain blurted out.

“Brain is very much incorrect,” the Host corrected. “The Host had to determine what timeline he existed in, which he was thankful to have Virgil’s help for, and Logan would be ineffective as a spy if he believed he was constantly watched. He would be unable to discern the Host from the Entity. Anxiety would not have fused with Logan, even to spare the other Side’s life if he felt pressured to do so. The ensuing loss would have been incalculable.”

“Why gamble with their lives at all?” Janus demanded angrily.

The Host looked offended by that, “Gambling implies there was a likelihood of the Sides losing, which the Host did not allow for by ensuring that Anxiety was not in the base you the time Dark became suspicious, and that word of a forest witch reached Deceit. Therefore the heroes are still able to have the best possible ending when the Actor arrives.”

“Are yeh playin’ wit’ our lives like a video game, yeh right bastard?” Marvin demanded.

“The Host doesn’t prefer to think of it that way, but if that is the easiest to understand then the Host will argue that he is looking for the best possible future and nudging various individuals — villains, heroes, and civilians alike — into positions they need to be in. The Host was unsure which timelines were possible or what would have been the best until Anxiety refused to fuse with anyone post-joining the heroes, which would have broken the curse immediately since Virgil now doesn’t technically exist, Brain does.”

“It was that simple?” Janus demanded. “We could have been done with that ages ago if I had known that!”

“Ah, but Virgil would not have been by the train station, if Deceit had known,” the Host reminded proudly. “Logan would have been disbelieving of a threat under the Sides’s noses, and the Coalition and police would not have gotten concrete evidence against Bim.”

“So we’re on the Good End route?” Roman asked.

Host sighed, “Sure. The heroes can go with that, if it helps them.”

“Good, because I need a nap,” Brain decided, already heading into the base. “Out.”

Janus left the base with a curt goodbye, making sure Brain was actually okay before he took off.

For the first day Brain stayed in the base, dragging Virgil’s stereo system into Logan’s workshop and starting to work on some small projects when he could hold his own attention. Logan was going to have to deal with a lot of half-finished projects when Brain separated.

One day turned into two. Then three.

Brain managed to finish one of his projects, giddily excited in pride and accomplishment walking around Logan’s office in a black t-shirt and jeans. Patton often sat with him, asking what he was doing, Roman was quietly supportive as he ranted about his newest role in a play. They weren’t exactly pushy but after four days it had been the longest the Sides had ever stayed fused and Brain could tell Roman was either jealous or worried . . . and being a fusion with _Virgil_ meant that Brain’s anxiety hiked through the roof. An anxiety that was calmed during a movie night at the Light Sides’ apartment.

The trio were watching some movie and Brain was starting to doze off, head leaned back against the couch.

Then, as gently as they had fused, the fusion was suddenly Virgil with his head leaned back against the pillow, Logan sitting in his lap, sleeping against him.

Patton smiled and let out a silent scream as he took out his phone to start taking pictures. “So cute,” he cooed in awe.

“Quiet,” Roman hissed, smiling, “you’ll wake them up.”

Virgil grumbled and held Logan a little closer, making Patton more excited as he took more pictures. The four Core Sides reunited once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of these days someone is dying, my fingers are itchy for bloodlust but I fight it for now.


End file.
